


i don't want to be you

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Angst, Assistant Band Director Coran (Voltron), Band Director Alfor (Voltron), Band Tech Allura (Voltron), Band Tech Shiro (Voltron), Bilingual Keith (Voltron), Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bilingual Shiro (Voltron), British Allura (Voltron), Color Guard Captain Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), DCI AU, Dancer Lance (Voltron), Drum Major Keith (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Family Fluff, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Flautist Original Female Character, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Italian Pidge | Katie Holt, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Foster Siblings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Is Thirsty, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Percussionist Pidge | Katie Holt, Platonic Soulmates, Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Saxophonist Keith (Voltron), Sousaphone Player Hunk (Voltron), Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-07-28 18:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20068738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "At the coffee shop, you said every composer has a muse. Whose yours?""Well, they're Asian, muscular, have a scar on their face, and they're oblivious.""Wait, Shiro's your muse?""I so hope your pulling my leg, Mullet."Two weeks. That's all Lance has to find a muse to make the choreography special.Two weeks. That's all Keith has to rewrite at least five minutes of their show and make it their own.Sad part is, they're both too hurt to realize the other is exactly what they need.





	1. Set 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance finally joins the band only to realize the one person who hates him is the person he wants in his bed.

“Dut, dut, dut, and one!” The band screams. It was sectionals today, and even though it wasn’t required to show up, everyone still did. Keith had to admit it was amazing, especially when Alfor hasn’t revealed the new show yet. 

At that moment they were practicing just marching in general for the new people who joined to replace those that aged out. 

“Stand by!” Keith yells and folds his arms as the techs start their corrections. He watches his brother correct one stubborn trumpet that refused to admit he was wrong. He feels his phone buzz and checks it to see it’s the group chat for leadership.

**The Uncle: The guard captain is gonna be even later. His car broke down on the highway**

**Sparkles: I can’t, my cars back at the complex**

**Keith: I’ll go during break. S’not like we have have to check dotbooks**

**Sugar Daddy: Thank you Keith. I’ll give you the money for the gas**

**Keith: Don’t worry about it**

“Alright! Be back out here by one forty-five! Dismissed!” Everyone disperses and Shiro is waiting for Keith when he climbs down from the stand. 

“You don’t have to torture yourself for the sake of the band, Keith,” Shiro says softly and Keith just shrugs. 

“He’s worked hard and if I’m going to be spending time with him planning, might as well start getting used to being around him,” Keith says in a ‘you better drop this conversation before I rip someone’s head off’ tone.

“Don’t push yourself beyond what you feel comfortable with just because you’re drum major,” Shiro warns before joining the other techs to get lunch. Keith sighs before jogging to the sidewalk where his and a few other bikes are parked. He takes out a clean tank top from a side bag and slips it on. 

Quickly checking his phone for the highway Alfor sent him, Keith slides his helmet on and starts the bike. Some male members whistle at him and some girls flutter their eyes as he peels out, dread forming in his gut.

~~~

Lance curses as his car sputters on the highway, turning on his distress lights before pulling over as it slowly dies. 

“Today isn’t my day,” Lance sighs as he gets out and looks for a certain contact.  _ Please don’t cut me, _ Lance mentally chants as he calls the assistant director.

“Lance, my boy! Are you lost?” Coran chirps and Lance can’t help but smile at his optimism. 

“No, Coran. I’m sorry, but my car broke down and I don’t think I’ll be able to get there until five,” Lance says, bracing for Coran to cut him. 

But he doesn’t.

“Don’t worry about it! I’ll see if one of the techs can give you a ride. You’ll know it’s one of ours if they’re wearing a Voltron shirt with their position on it,” Coran says before hanging up, not giving Lance a chance to even thank him. 

“Great. I wake up late, almost forgot my bag, had to get breakfast and burned my mouth, and now this.” Lance can’t help but get angry at himself for making a fool of himself on his first day. He slumps against the side of his car and starts finding a towing service. 

“How can they trust a guard captain that can’t even make it on time?” He mumbles after calling. He hears the rumble of a motorcycle and jumps when a deep, shiny, red one pulls up behind his car, the first thing catching his eye about the rider being the <strike>muscles</strike> tank top. It was midnight with the word Voltron sprayed in red, blue, green, yellow, and white and it clung to his body like a second skin. The guy pulls off his helmet and his dark hair stuck to his forehead from the sweat.

But his eyes took Lance’s breath; they were a dark purple and looked like they held a storm in them. 

“You’re the captain right?” He asks gruffly and Lance has to take a moment to process it before stuttering out a reply.

“Oh! Yeah, I’m Lance. I’m guessing you’re the one taking me to the lot?” The guy nods and makes a gesture with his head for Lance to get on. He cautiously climbs on behind him and takes the black helmet handed to him. “So uh, what’s your name?” Lance asks, trying to read the back of the tank top while putting on the helmet.

“Keith, now hold on. Gotta get there before break ends,” Keith says emotionlessly before revving the bike and speeding off. Lance yelps and winds his arms around Keith’s surprisingly tiny waist as he dips in between traffic.

If he was weirded out by how close Lance was, he doesn’t say. 

He doesn’t know how long they’ve been driving but he gapes as they pass the headquarters for Altea Inc and head to where there was a tall blue tower and a bunch of adults with instruments and flags-

_ Shit, my flag bag,  _ Lance realises and when Keith pulls up and parks, he finally reads the back of his shirt.

“You’re the drum major?” Lance squawks and Keith ignores him, placing his helmet in a side bag before stripping his shirt. The Cuban looks away and places his own helmet in the opposite bag, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“My flag bag is back in my car,” Lance says and dismounts the bike and follows a very shirtless Keith to other very shirtless men and women. 

“Alfor is getting your car towed over here so you’re not waiting on anyone after leadership,” Keith responds with very little emotion and Lance can’t help but get defensive.

“Well excuse me, I’m sorry my bad luck has been inconveniencing you,” Lance snaps and Keith whips around to him.

“Listen, I haven’t kicked you off the field yet because it’s your first day, but if you don’t shut the fuck up I sure as hell will,” Keith snarls and turns around. “Guard has the cafeteria until five thirty, then we do drill,” He says ever so nicely before climbing to the top of the stand. A nearby tech with dyed pink hair smiles at him sympathetically. 

“That’s Keith for ya,” She says with a laugh and Lance can’t help but find her too soft for his tastes. “The little bitch is nothing with Shiro holding onto his lead, so don’t worry about it. I’ll see you at leadership greenie,” She waves and Lance takes a big back pedal.  _ Definitely my type _ , he thinks, but  _ guard first _ .

~~~~

“Wait, so you have a masters in biology and you decided to become a guard tech?” One of the members asked him while they were stretching.

“Technically the position said captain but yeah. I wanted to be on the field but they thought I’d be better as tech, so they just registered me as captain so I’m legally allowed to perform with you guys,” He felt his ego expand when they compliment his skill and subconsciously puffs out his chest a bit.

“So rifle, sabre, or flag?” A girl asks and Lance ponders it while they change to fourth position. 

“Swing actually. I find it’s more expressive dance wise,” He responds and some of the younger members groan.

“So we’re gonna have double swing work?” One calls from the back and Lance smirks.

“Maybe. Depends on what cranky pants and the directors want. I didn’t know the emo had a lot of say in what happens to music wise until this morning so I have to run everything through him,” Lance grumbles and a few people chuckles, mainly the ones closer to aging out.

“According to Shiro and the directors, guys a musical prodigy. He rewrote our entire percussion feature in under a day last year and it got us perfect marks,” One of them says in awe and it shrinks Lance’s ego. 

“Damn,” He mutters. 

“Hey Lance, where did you spin before this?” A younger girl asks. Lance starts them prepping for splits as he tries to think. 

“I actually used to be in the junior band Altea sponsored, MFE, with my sister. The tech’s over there actually had us choreograph their entire ballad one year.” Once again, his ego inflated. “Then she aged out and MFE wasn’t any fun, so I applied for Voltron. Took me a while to hear back since I applied around the end of the season but now here I am.”

“Now I have a question for you all; who is this Shiro? I’ve heard about him three times now and I, for one, am curious.” Some kids snigger and some blush. 

“Shiro’s one of the really good looking tech’s. We have an unspoken rule in the band that Shiro, Allura, and Tyss are off limits in games because it’s unfair how amazing they look,” A random kid says and another chirps in. 

“You really can’t miss Shiro and Allura; Shiro has a prosthetic arm and scar on his nose and Allura’s got white hair. Tyss is so subtle you don’t realise she exists until she opens her mouth and says the most outrageous things. If you wanna get in on it, the entire band is betting on Shiro and Allura dating; half of us say they’re-”

“Now let’s get to warm up,” Lance interrupts with a red face and sets up more energetic music.

~~~

“Shit! Get inside! Guard help the woodwinds!” Lance yells, holding open the doors to the building as the band runs inside to avoid the storm. 

“We have everyone but Keith!” Allura calls from the top of a table.

“He said something about a sax in the bathroom!” Tyss yells from the cart filled with towels.

“Dammit. The storm’s getting worse, it might be best if they stay over there,” Shiro says ad gratefully takes a towel from guard member.

“Can’t. Bathroom’s on the ground and if the rain comes down faster than the drains can handle, they’ll be trapped,” Lance says sharply. “I’ll go after him with some ponchos,” Lance tells them before starting to head out. 

“You can’t,” Shiro says firmly, grabbing him by the shoulder. Lance will probably never deny it until the day he dies; Shiro is the finest specimen of mankind ever made.

“Why not?” Lance asks, trying to head towards the door. 

“It’s not my place to say but just trust me,” Shiro tells him softly and Lance reluctantly relaxes.

“I see them!” A trumpet yells and Lance and Shiro rip open the doors.

“Keith! C’mon!” Shiro calls out.

Lance never knew he needed a soaked, shirtless Keith in his life until the drum major barges through the doors with a senior saxophone, soaked to the bone and still without a shirt.

“You assholes!” Tyss yells, chucking a towel at each of their heads. “You had us worried sick!” He smiles faintly at her and ruffles her hair.

“Sorry,” He says sarcastically.

“No you’re not. You owe me boba.”

“I always owe you boba.”

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Shiro asks and everyone stifles as laugh with him.

“Well, we have no show to practice, no events coming up, so I don’t know. No one can leave until the storm clears, so I guess we’re just going to bond till then.”

“Great. Circle up everyone! Just go anywhere,” Shiro calls out before standing next to Keith. Allura goes to his side and Tyss takes the other side of Keith. Lance finds his been shuffled to face Keith and finds himself subjected to a glare that could kill him instantly.

“So, we’re going to learn more about each other. The closer we are emotionally, the better the show. Tech’s and Leadership will start first,” Shiro explains. “My names Takashi Shirogane, but call me Shiro. I’m the high brass tech and I used to be drum major until I aged out. Keith’s my little brother and my main instrument is mellophone.” Shiro was all muscle and strong lines, he had an undercut with a small tuft of white hair. His nose had a pale scar running perpendicular to it and he displayed his prosthetic with confidence. He was the epitome of ‘sexy and I know it’ and Lance’s bi ass was all for it.

“Hi, my name’s Allura Altea and I’m the woodwind tech. I aged out last year and my main instrument is clarinet. Oh! I’m also from Britain.” Lance decided he was in love. Allura had long silver hair contrasting to her dark skin, her eyes were a crystalline teal and she held herself with the elegance of a princess. She was breathtaking.

“I’m Zethrid, low brass tech. I aged out with Shiro and I mainly play tuba; I also used to be a professional bodybuilder.” Definitely not his type. She was super muscular with half shaved short hair dyed blue and red and it was obvious she didn’t do skin care.

“Hey, I’m Ezor and I’m the PT director. I never actually did band, I’m just a retired track runner.” If she lost the faded hair dye, Lance would consider her. Her long red hair was braided and had faded strips of blue, yellow, and green, she wasn’t dainty like Allura but she wasn’t super muscular like Zethrid. It was a nice balance. 

“What’s up? I’m Matt Holt, the prop designer and the pit tech. That’s my lil sis Pidge-”

“Matt, shut the hell up and get on with it. Not everyone has to lose their brain cells because of you,” A boy with short brown hair says to Matt snarkily. Lance couldn’t help but snicker, reminded of his sister.

“Damn, okay. Not gonna lie, I feel a bit hurt,” he whines and puts a hand to his heart in mock hurt. Matt looked a lot like Pidge with the only exceptions being he doesn’t wear glasses and his hair is longer.

“I’m Ulaz, the percussion tech, and I used to march professional,” A man with a white mohawk and full sleeves says quietly. He had this maturity the others don’t, but at the same time it feels like he could run rings around them.

“I guess leadership next,” Keith mumbles. “I’m Keith Kogane and I’m the drum major. I was the training drum major in Marmora,” He says and avoids looking at not just Lance, but all guard members. He had black hair that went slightly longer than his shoulders, amethyst eyes, a lean, but oh so muscular build, and a scar starting at his neck and ending across his cheek. He’d be just a handsome as his brother, in Lance’s opinion, if his eyes weren’t so cold.

“Keith, be a little warmer,” Tyss scolds. “I’m Netyss Cane and I’m the flute section leader. I actually did guard in Marmora but decided to march flute when Shiro asked me to audition for Voltron.” Lance wouldn’t be able to understand if she wasn’t dating someone yet; her short hair was a rich dark auburn, her eye’s an off putting green making the red tones of her skin pop. Her body was naturally muscular but a healthy amount of fat clung to her lower body and she had freckles littering every bit of exposed skin.

“My name is Acxa, and I’m the saxophone leader.” She terrified everyone in the room; her stare was cold, her dark blue hair hiding half her face and she was poised like she was ready to fight someone.

A few more people went; James Griffin the battery leader, Ryan Kinkade the clarinet leader, Nadia Rizavi the mellophone leader, Curtis the tuba leader, and Ina Leifsdottir, the baritone leader. It finally came to Lance and he sucked in a deep breathe.

“Hello fine ladies and gents. The name’s Lance and i’m the new guard captain. I used to march in MFE before I moved and decided to audition for Voltron.” He appreciated the giggles from some of the girls and gave Allura his award winning smile when she rolled her eyes at him.

“Uh, hi, hello. I’m Hunk Garett and I’m the sousaphone section leader. I usually make the snacks and help make the food for bootcamp,” Hunk says nervously and Lance had to say he liked the guy. He was more on the heavy side but he looked like a genuine teddy bear to everyone. His arms were more muscular than anything and that’s probably because he lugs around a mammoth of an instrument.

“Pardon his nerves. I’m Pidge, female pronouns please, and I lead the pit. I help my idiot of a brother build the props,” Pidge jabs. She was probably the smallest human here and Lance did a double take when the human he thought was a HE is actually a SHE. She was tiny, no muscles whatsoever, but you could see the callouses she had all over her fingers, proof of her hard work.

The rest of the band introduced themselves, and by the time they went through all one hundred of them, the rain had let up. 

“Okay, you’re all dismissed. Get your asses outta here before it comes down again. Leadership, we’re in the back!” Keith calls out and Lance once again struggles through the chaos of it all. 

~~~

“So, do you have a show?” Keith asks Alfor and Coran steps in. He was getting tired of Lance hitting on Allura and Tyss and just wanted to go to the practice room Alfor lets him use to clear his head.

“Yes, and I think you’ll have a blast writing the ballad. The composer did a poor job at it and it could really use the Kogane touch,” Coran tells with amusement on his face.

“Back to what Keith was asking. We do have a show, but it is one of our longest ones and it will be a lot for them to handle. Lance, do you think you can choreograph at least ten minutes worth of work?” Alfor asks and Lance has to genuinely think about it.

“I should, but I’ll need every draft Keith makes of the ballad so i’m not working last minute and giving the guard sloppy work,” He responds seriously and Alfor nods.

“Shiro, if you could help Keith stay on top of that, that would be a big help.” Shiro nods and ruffles his brothers hair.

“You got it. The hard part is getting him to balance that and daily human functions,” They all laugh a bit but turn serious.

“Ah yes, the actual show. Alfor and I talked it over, and we came up with this; somewhere in an ancient town, two people fall in love, but in their carelessness, end up corrupting their town and try to correct it through music, or something like that,” Coran explains and most of the people present hum their agreement.

“I can try to work with that,” Keith says quietly before shrugging on a red and white jacket. “Well, I’m off to start working,” Keith says and walks off. 

“Camps in three days!” Coran calls out which only earns a middle finger from Keith. “Can you translate Shiro?”

“He says that he’ll be the first one here,” Shiro says through a grin.

“Now, Katie, Matt, we don’t want anything too grande. Something simple but versatile,” Alfor says softly and the two burst into smiles.

“We can definitely do versatile but I dunno about grande. Everything we do has to be over the top,” Matt says with smugness.

“So you can do it, great. What about uniforms for guard and band and silks for guard?” Coran asks and Lance smiles proudly. 

“I can design all of that, it’ll be great,” He boasts and they all look at him with surprise. 

“You sure Lance? Won’t it be too much?” Shiro asks with concern and Lance just shakes his head.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” He reassures and Alfor claps his hands. 

“That settles it. Camps in three days, remember to pack for two weeks, bring the usual, and we’ll see you at five thirty!” He says cheerfully and dismisses them. “Oh, and Lance? You’re cars fixed. It’s in the main complex by the auditorium,” Alfor calls out to him as he leaves with Coran, Shiro, and Allura. The Cuban smiles and dashes out of cafeteria, following all the signs that lead him to the auditorium.

“Man, this place is huge!” Lance exclaims as he looks around. The place was well taken care of and looks like a corporate headquarters rather than a performing arts complex. He walks by a bunch of rooms but stops by one when he hears the beautiful crooning of an oboe. Ever since he was little, Lance had a thing for dancing to solo instruments; he’d dance when his Mami played the guitar or when his brother performed on his trumpet. His best work always came from choreographing to solo instruments.

Lance approaches the door but freezes when the musician stops and curses. He takes out his phone and starts recording, hoping to get the player on tape. He gets lucky when the oboist starts again, this time the sound coming out full of emotions; loneliness, craving, the need for someone’s love, hurt, fear, and small sparks of bittersweet love. Lance felt his own heart clenching and didn’t realise he was crying until the person stopped. He stopped the recording and after wiping his tears, he continues on his way, already picturing how he’s going to give visual life to this person’s heart.


	2. Set 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh? Smol ball of anger Pidge is actually soft? Lance would've never guessed.
> 
> Well, there goes his chances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School starts today so updates will be almost nonexistant. Also i'm sorry for the speed and ooc of this fic!!!

**Aphrodite: Hey Lance, Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, Keith, and I are going to a coffee shop to hangout. You want to join?**

It was a surprise, but Lance smiled at the fact that he was being considered.

**Dance god: Count me in gorgeous**

_ Shit,  _ Lance thinks when he realises what he sent.

**Aphrodite: Thanks Lance :) but I’m dating someone**

“Oh?” Lance murmurs while getting out of bed. “Probably Shiro. Man’s fucking gorgeous,” He groans and puts on the closest dance clothes he could find. “Probably gonna stop by Veronica’s studio today.” Lance keeps listing off things he needs to do before slipping on his old MFE tank top and some sneakers. He grabs the keys to his car and jogs out to the car park. 

His car was a gift from his family when he made MFE; a dazzling blue old Mustang with white leather and red stitching. The paint job was the only new thing about his car, but the inside looked just as new. He starts the muscle car and enjoys the growl of the engine for a minute before playing the song he recorded yesterday.

Tears start to well as he listens to the broken heart again. 

“Who hurt you  _ mi ruseñor _ ?” Lance asks under his breath. His GPS gives him directions to the coffee shop and he looks in awe at the city. It had old midwest vibes about it but it also looked futuristic at the same time. Digital billboards advertise Altea Inc products and Lance could’ve sworn once or twice he saw ads for Voltron. He pulls up to the curb of the shop and gets out, hearing a few people cat call him. Winking, Lance struts into the shop and immediately finds his friends in the corner.

“Lance! Glad you came!” Allura greets joyfully and Shiro smiles from her left.

“Sorry for Allura’s last minute planning. It’s a tradition for us to be unhealthy and mess around the days leading up to camp and she wanted you to join,” Lance smiles wide at him but notices Keith staring at a book with headphones in, ignoring everyone.

“What’s wrong with Mullet?” Lance asks before sitting next to Hunk and Pidge. 

“He always gets like this when Alfor asks him to compose something. He’s only here because Shiro dragged him,” Pidge scoffs and Lance rolls his eyes. 

“One of us has to be with him 24/7 or he won’t eat, drink, sleep, or even shower. I admire his dedication but the guy works out everyday religiously. I’m not smelling sweaty Keith after three days of that,” Hunk ads on and everyone agrees wholeheartedly. Hunk then looks at what Lance is wearing and gives him a look.

“Lance, are you trying to get everyone interested in guys horny?” Pidge asks and he looks at what he’s wearing and blushes. He pulled on translucent leggings that laced up on the sides and his tank top was loose and lowcut on the sides.

“Sorry, I was running late and pulled on the first thing I found,” He apologises meekly. He remembers the audio and eagerly brings out his phone.

“I wanted to ask you guys if there’s any oboe players in Voltron,” Lance asks and Shiro looks at him quizzically. 

“Uh, yeah. I know Nadia plays it casually, Ryan switches between that and oboe, and there’s two more but they only play during concert season,” Shiro says while Lance brings up the clip. “Why do you ask?”

“When I went to get my car, I heard someone playing and I want to find out who because I want to choreograph to more of their music,” Lance explains happily and plays the audio for them.

“Damn, someone has issues,” Pidge remarks but she was as emotional as the rest of them.

“It’s definitely not one of them. That playing still was too smooth and articulated,” Hunk examines and the oldest two agree.

“It’s too professional to be someone from Voltron,” Allura remarks but Shiro just sits back smugly.

“I know who it is, but I’m not gonna say,” He says and everyone starts yelling.

“Why?! Dude, just tell us!” Lance begs and Shiro shakes his head.

“They don’t want people to know they play the oboe, that’s why,” Shiro says and taps Keith’s shoulder. He removes his earbuds and glares at Lance before focusing Shiro.

“We’re gonna go up and order, you want the usual?” Keith nods and goes back to focusing, leaving his earbud out.

“Lance, can you stay with Keith? We’ll order for you,” Shiro asks and Lance nods.

“I’ll text Allura what I want, don’t worry,” Lance says when Pidge asks him what he wants. When they leave, Lance takes a minute to study Keith; he was handsome, strong jaw line, sharp eyes, taunt muscles, the only thing keeping his skin from being perfect was a scar running from his neck to right below his eye, and he had soft looking long black hair tied up messily like he doesn’t know how to tie hair. He was eye candy.

Lance’s eyes turn down to the notebook only to find it blank.

“Hey man, you okay? You haven’t written anything,” Lance asks only to earn a glare from Keith.

“Shut up,” He says and looks back down. Lance pouts and crosses his arms.

“Jeez, I just wanted to see how you were doing since we’re both supposed to be working together,” Lance grumbles.

“Do you even know the words shut up?” Keith asks rhetorically and Lance is about to snap at him when everyone comes back.

“You forgot to text what you wanted so I just guessed,” Allura says and looks between the two boys before sighing. “Keith, stop being mean to Lance,” Allura scolds and Keith just ignores her. “Your brother,” She grumbles and Shiro just scratches the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about it Lance, he’s like this with anyone that does guard but Tyss,” Hunk reassures before Pidge butts in.

“He doesn’t mean that they’re dating. They’re best friends,” She says quickly and Hunk just raises his eyebrow at her. 

“Oh? Is someone jealous?” Hunk asks and she punches him in the arm, avoiding everyone’s gaze. 

“No, I just want to clarify that since people mistake them for being couple and it makes them uncomfortable,” She says in a rush and Keith just rolls his eyes. Lance looks at his phone and jumps up.

“I’m so sorry but I have to get to the dance studio,” Lance apologises but Allura just waves him off. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just don’t hurt yourself,” Allura says and Shiro nods.

“Are you coming tomorrow?” Shiro asks and Lance nods happily. 

“Yeah, I’ll wear something more decent then, but gotta split,” He says and runs out the door.

**Dance god: I’m coming to the studio now**

**Gay Legend: Bet. Hope you don’t mind splitting the room with another girl. She’s pretty good so I didn’t think you’d mind**

**Dance god: Yeah it’s chill, see ya**

Everyone looks at Pidge and Keith who were blushing.

“Care to explain?” Shiro asks and they shake their heads.

“Another time,” Keith says and Pidge visibly relaxes. “The stories way to long to tell in one sitting. Besides, I have to take Pidge somewhere somewhere soon,” Keith says and Shiro looks at him, clearly unsatisfied. “I’ll tell you tonight, okay? It’s nothing bad,” Keith reassures and glares at Pidge when she mutters something under her breath.

“Okay, but I’ll hold you to that,” Shiro resigns.

~~~

When Lance got to the room, he couldn’t be more okay with his roommate. 

“Tyss! I didn’t know you danced here!” He exclaimed and ran up to hug her. She laughs and returns said hug. 

“Same here loverboy! I came here with Acxa but she went to snog her girlfriend,” She tells him and Lance stares at her bluntly.

“Her girlfriend wouldn’t happen to have short brown hair and glasses, would she?”

“Yeah? That’s your sister?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Well your life must suck,” She says before switching the music to something EDM. Her body relaxes before popping into position.

“Damn, what song is this?”

“Catch Me If You Can, SNSD. I’ll put the show music on after that way you can stretch,” Tyss pants out and Lance watched her with respect. She was obviously tired but kept pushing and still put her all into it. 

“How long have you been dancing today?” Lance asks in a huff while stretching his splits. He did them at least twice a day so stretching wasn’t necessary but it still felt good.

“God, I dunno. A while,” Tyss pants during her second break and Lance is finished as soon as she is. He tosses her a water bottle and goes to take her place.

“Take a breather. I’m just going to choreograph for a while,” Lance says and plays the show music. He takes a deep breath and sets up his phone to record and then lets his body move.  _ Dance first, equipment later _ , he reminds himself and lets all thoughts of equipment escape his mind. He doesn’t fight it and continues until he hears part one switch to part two, which makes him stopt.

“Well shit Lance. That was amazing,” Tyss says and Lance jumps.

“Thanks,” He mumbled shyly. “I need to watch the video and see how it fits and keep going at it until it’s cleaned and perfect,” He rambles and Tyss just smiles at him. 

“Lance, you got this. It already looks really good so don’t sweat it. If Keith gives you hell while you guys are trying to figure out the ballad, just tell me and I’ll bury him six feet under,” She threatens and smiles at her phone.

“Why does everyone say that?” Lance asks and notices how she falters.

“It’s not my place. If you can get Keith to trust you, then he’ll tell you, but just know it’s nothing you did. Never blame yourself for the stuff he might do over camp,” She says softly and gives Lance a sad smile. It contrasted with her happy persona and it unnerved him just how genuine it is.

“Keith’s like my brother, y’know? I’ve seen everything he went through, but he hasn’t come to terms with it. He blames it on everyone whether he means to or not and it hurts everyone. He’s nearly gotten suspended or even expelled from Marmora and Voltron because of it and we just don’t want you to suffer because of him.” It was heartfelt and it left Lance speechless. “Sorry, I rambled. I’ll let you get you back to it,” She says and goes to leave the room. “I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t push yourself too hard,” Tyss says and leaves the room.

Lance stares at his reflection and ponders on what she said before going back to his routine. He goes at it for a while before Veronica comes in.

“How’s it going?” She asks and Lance just groans. 

“It’s missing something. Not something physical, I dunno know. It just feels lacking,” He explains and shows her his latest recording. She hums in thought before vaguely running through some of the dance.

“I think it’s emotion,” She says after a while and rewinds the video. “I mean, you have the basic emotions shown but that's it. There’s nothing deeper to it,” She explains and Lance nods in understanding. “I think you need a muse for this one Lance. You need that deeper emotion only they can give you,” She says softly and he just looks away. She sighs and hugs him.

“I know you lost your muse after Mami and Pa disowned you, but you need to stay positive. They’re not near you, you don’t have to hide, I mean, look at this whole scenario,” She tells him and kisses his head. “You’re in Voltron, who didn’t care if you were a guy when you auditioned. Hell, they’re even letting you design stuff because your  _ talented _ ,” Her words soothed him. “They don’t care that you’re bi. They care that you’re Lance McClain.”

Her words brought tears to his eyes and he sniffs.

“Great, now i’m crying,” He pouts and she laughs. 

“Go get cleaned up loverboy. I’ll leave you a fresh water bottle,” She tells him and he smiles. Looking at a clock, he realises that it’s been an hour since Tyss left. 

“She probably got caught up with something,” He mumbled out loud but stops by the bathroom doors when he hears whimpers that sounds like they belong to her.  _ Or someone,  _ he thinks and heads to the middle of the entrance where the water fountains were to hear better.

“Tyss,” He hears a girl whimper before the wet sound of lips starts and he risks look around the corner only to return back around in shock.

In the bathroom, Tyss had Pidge fucking Holt on the sinks, kissing her like she was the last water source in the world. In embarrassment, Lance goes to clean his tears absentmindedly. He doesn’t notice he walked back to his room until he feels his face collided with it.  _ Pull yourself together,  _ he tells himself and heads in.

“Why did they hide it?” He asks himself and takes a swig of his water bottle. The door opens and he jumps, turning to see Tyss. Her face was red and her lips swollen. Behind her was a certain percussionist, looking just as wrecked.

“Lance, we know you saw us,” Pidge says and Lance looks away. Tyss scolds her slightly for her tone and looks at Lance.

“What she meant to say is, can you please not tell anyone?” Tyss asks and Lance looks at her with uncertainty. 

“Why?” He asks softly and went about his routine, still listening to them.

“Everyone thinks Katie and I are straight and that we’re like family,” Tyss tells him and sighs. “We just don’t want them to call us freaks or fetishize us or-” “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell anyone. If you guys wanted people to know you would’ve said something at that circle we did,” Lance says and freezes when they both hug him. 

“Thank you,” Pidge tells him and he smiles. “Now show us what you got. I might get prop ideas from watching you.”

~~~

Keith listens to the show music again and tries to picture the ballad in his mind. It was tough, he couldn’t come up with something involving love or stuff like that, instead he only came up with depressing shit. After at least five repeats, Katie finally comes out looking happy and Keith just raises his eyebrow at her. 

“Have fun with her?” He asks and laughs when Pidge doesn’t say anything. “I am really happy for you two, but you should come out to the band sometime soon,” Keith tells her softly as they walk to his bike.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s just. That fear, y’know? That they won’t accept us,” Pidge confides reluctantly and Keith couldn’t help but snort. 

“Katie, I love you, but you can’t think like that when they accepted you for being trans when you came out in the most outrageous way,” Keith tells her flatly and she just glares. 

“I had to make a statement; just because the dye didn’t come out of our uniforms for a week isn’t my problem, it’s Matt’s for using a semi permanent dye,” She dodges and Keith gives her an unimpressed look. 

“You got us to form the trans flag in the middle of a comp without even telling us,” He deadpans and she just shrugs. 

“Like I said, gotta make a statement.” 

They get to his bike and mount silently and drive off. The two had known each other since Keith and Shiro moved to Garrison nine years ago and had gotten a good word in with the local bands for Keith. When Tyss came up two years later, they became the trouble makers of the town; Pidge and Hunk were the masterminds, Keith and Tyss were the unparalleled performers. Shiro practically treated them as his own siblings and didn’t care if Keith was over at their houses as long as Pidge and Hunk’s parents were aware.

Keith pulled up to a modern looking house and Katie got off, giving Keith a hug. 

“I know you don’t like Lance. But please Keith, stop acting like a little bitch and treat him like you treat everyone else. Hell, you treat Griffin better than you treat Lance.” Keith rolls his eyes at her.

“It’s not that easy,” He says which only gets an arms cross from the girl. 

“Like hell it is. You never told me in depth what happened but I know enough to make the decision that Lance doesn’t deserve this shit.” She takes a deep breath and gives Keith a genuine smile. “You mean a lot to everyone Keith, and Lance has already won almost all of us over. We just want you both to be happy and not worry about having to clean up a dead body everytime you two are together.” Keith looks down and Katie takes it as an okay. 

“Thanks for the ride again. Sorry you have to drive me to sneak out with her,” Pidge apologises before heading inside with a wave and opens the door to reveal her parents, who wave at Keith too. He returns the wave before revving the engine again and speeding off, taking his new freedom to weave his stunning red bike between the black, white, and grey cars.

When Keith gets home, Shiro’s on the phone with Allura and trying to not let his bright red face show through his voice. Keith just leans against the doorframe with a smirk on his face and his notebook in his hand and watches his brother stutter through a conversation with the woodwind tech. 

_ You’re whipped,  _ Keith mouths at Shiro, which just causes him to flush even more and stutter through the once confident sentence. He finally lets Allura go with a soft goodbye and hangs up with a big smile on his face. 

“Like I said, whipped,” Keith says aloud and Shiro just rolls his eyes.

“Now, are you going to explain what you and Katie were getting all blushy about at the coffee shop today?” Shiro asks after calming his raging blush and Keith pulls out his phone and dials someone. 

“I need to ask if it’s okay first. Not my thing to spill,” Keith tells Shiro when he gives him a puzzled look.

“ ** _Yeoboseyo_ ** _ ? _ ” Tyss asks over the phone and Keith immediately switches tongues, happy to finally be able to talk in the language he grew up with.

“Uh,  _ Shiro woneul geuege wae keigo nae eolguli ppalgae? Geote kwanhayeo, naneun dangsineul mal hapnigga? Geugeoteun johayo donshinina naneun geuge malhae _ ?” Shiro rolls his eyes at them but smiles all the same knowing how happy it makes Keith to talk in the language his mother taught him.

“ ** _Naneun bol su eopsji anhenga? Geugeotcheoreom urineun uri jasineul nochulsikyeoro mayak dilleo ddoneun mueongaida. _ ** _ I’m assuming I’m on speaker, so can you hear me Shiro? _ ” Tyss asks and Shiro almost nods before he realises she can’t see it.

“Yeah, loud and clear,” He responds and she hums okay.

“So uh,” She says unsurely before taking an audible breathe. “Katie and I have been seeing each other for almost a year and we didn’t want to say anything because everyone assumes we’re both straight and we don’t want people to fetishize us because we’re lesbian and the only people who know are Keith, Hunk, her parents, Matt, and Lance,” Wait, Lance?! Keith blinks owlishly a few times when he hears his name but stays quiet and lets her explain. “ _ So we’ve been meeting up after practices, over weekends, and after coffee visits. Sometimes Keith even sneaks out to drive her over, but we didn’t want to hide it from you and Allura since you two are practically the parents and I dunno. It’s just a whole mess and _ -”

“Tyss, it’s okay,” Shiro says, cutting her off with a slight laugh. “I’m gonna be honest, I’m kinda hurt you didn’t tell me sooner. You and Katie probably look good with each other and balance each other well, so I’m happy for the both of you.” She lets out an audible sigh but Keith can hear what Shiro says next before he even thinks of saying it.

“I just don’t like you being homophobic to yourself about it. I know what happened to both you and Keith and I’m going to tell the same thing to him later; stop letting the past affect your future. You’re just going to make everything crumble and I don’t want that to happen to you and Katie.” It hangs heavy in the air but all three of them are hesitant to say it, like if one of them does, it’ll become real, tangible. 

“He doesn’t want a repeat of Adam and Curtis,” Keith finally says and the flinch from Shiro tells him he hit the nail on the head.

“ _ I-Thank you Shiro. For understanding, but don’t worry, the Holts set me up with someone to talk about it. It was getting worse for a while but now that I have you guys, I’m getting better, so is Katie, so is Keith. We’re all getting better, so don’t worry _ ,” She reassures him and even though she sounds tired, it sounded genuine. It was genuine. “ _ Goodnight you two, and thank you for being my oppa and onii-chan, _ ” She tells them softly and hangs up. A second later, a text lights up his screen.

**sadistic potatoe: Jaepchae and tsukiyaki tomorrow?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you want to co author this fic so it can get regular updates, email me at sukari.lowe13@gmail.com
> 
> Translations:  
Yeoboseyo?  
Hello? (used in phone calls)
> 
> Shiro woneul geuege wae keigo nae eolguli ppalgae? Geote kwanhayeo, naneun dangsineul mal hapnigga? Geugeoteun johayo donshinina naneun geuge malhae?”  
Shiro wants me to tell him why Katie and I were blushing? About that thing I told you about earlier? Is it okay if you or I tell him?
> 
> Naneun bol su eopsji anhenga? Geugeotcheoreom urineun uri jasineul nochulsikyeoro mayak dilleo ddoneun mueongaida  
I don't see not? It's not like we're exposing ourselves as drug dealers or something.
> 
> I apologize for any false translations. I tried to find a reliable translator but thats hard.


End file.
